An inclinometer is an instrument used to measure the relative angle between a plane and the horizontal or vertical direction as defined by gravity. The instrument is also known as a tilt meter, tilt indicator, gradiometer, or level gauge. An inclinometer is needed in various applications such as in civil engineering projects, surveying, well or mine drilling, electronic games, and volcanic eruption monitoring systems.
Available inclinometer systems use liquid level sensing, bubble tiltmeter, capacitive liquid sensing or micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device. However, each of these systems involves objects that are in contact with one another. Take, for instance, the common level where a bubble within a liquid is used to measure the angle of inclination. The liquid comes in contact with the housing in which it is contained. Thus, there is some liquid-solid (surface) interaction involved, which can adversely affect the detection of very small change of inclination with this instrument.
Therefore, improved inclinometer designs would be desirable.